The good news is it possible, the bad news is that it will be very expensive and highly disruptive. There is probably about 300TWh in storage in Europe right now meaning we need to find 1,300TWh over the next 12 months. We are seeing unprecedented volatility in oil, coal, gas and electricity markets which is a reflection of the high level of risk around energy.

Polish energy providers detail the cost of carbon-emission permits in invoices to households. These costs are high, as Poland relies on coal for more than 70% of power generation. It will cost $415 billion, or about two-thirds of gross domestic product, for Poland to reach the EU’s net-zero emissions goal by 2050, according to government estimates.

Kazakhstan's market share is more than 40% of the world’s nuclear fuel and it is the lowest-cost producer. Some buyers are looking to diversify their sources of supply, which means paying a premium. China is planning 150 new reactors. The EU plans to class nuclear as green. The supply may not be able to rise quickly enough to satisfy the demand.

TransAlta Renewables has to replace the foundations of 50 wind turbines at Kent Hills wind farm. An investigation has revealed serious structural issues. This caused a 100-metre-tall turbine to collapse in the fall of 2021. The company expects the work to cost between $75 and $100 million. Kent Hills wind turbines will remain offline until the end of 2023.

Prices of copper, platinum and lithium are rising. Copper is needed for wind farms, platinum for hydrogen production, and lithium for battery production. New environmental guidelines are making future production of copper and aluminium more difficult. This could make carbon dioxide-free electricity significantly more expensive than previously thought.

The EU will need to invest €500 billion in new generation nuclear power stations, said Thierry Breton, the EU internal market commissioner. To label energy from nuclear power and natural gas as "green" was a vital step towards attracting investors. Currently, the bloc gets 26% of its energy from nuclear power, by 2050, this would be reduced to 15%.

The European Commission’s latest proposal to label natural gas and nuclear energy as green sources under the so-called EU taxonomy has reopened schisms within the bloc. Natural gas accounted for 22.3% of the EU’s energy mix in 2019, with nuclear power making up 13.1% according to Eurostat, but their use varies in every member state.

The crisis has left the EU at the mercy of the weather and Vladimir Putin’s wiles. Natural gas storage sites are only 56% full, more than 15 percentage points below the 10-year average. Russia is building troops on the border with Ukraine. The energy situation limits the scope of actions Western powers can take to counter Russian aggression.

The crisis has left the EU at the mercy of the weather and Vladimir Putin’s wiles. Natural gas storage sites are only 56% full, more than 15 percentage points below the 10-year average. Russia is building troops on the border with Ukraine. The energy situation limits the scope of actions Western powers can take to counter Russian aggression.

European prompt power prices on Monday notched up sharp gains as German day-ahead wind power supply was seen halving while demand rose due to falling temperatures. German week-ahead baseload jumped 76% to €211.2/MWh. German front-year power and the equivalent French contract were at 111 euros and 124.5 euros on Dec. 31.

The country installed only 1.65 GW. To meet the government's targets, Germany would have to add 9.8 GW of solar and 5.9 GW of onshore wind annually. To secure its supply, Germany could be tempted to build more gas-fired power stations, but this risks reinforcing its dependence on Russia, as illustrated by the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.

France risks falling short of electricity in a cold snap and lack of wind next month as an abnormally high number of the country’s nuclear reactors are halted for maintenance, the country’s grid operator said. More than a quarter of the 56 atomic reactors are currently halted because the coronavirus pandemic has disrupted the utility’s maintenance program.